Clothes hanger attachment



July 3, 1962 A. VOLK 3,042,276

CLOTHES HANGER ATTACHMENT Filed July 6, 1960 INVENTOR.

United .States Patent 3,042,276 CLOTHES HANGER ATTACHMENT Albert Volk, Belleville, NJ. Filed July 6, 1960, Ser. No. 41,124 1 Ciaim. (Cl. 223-98) This invention relates to an attachment for wire clothes hangers, and is, in certain respects, an improvement over the attachment shown in my Patent No. 2,931,548.

Among the objects accomplished by this invention are: to provide a simple, inexpensive, and lightweight attachment for the common wire clothes hanger such as used by dry cleaning establishments to return cleaned garments to customers, and subsequently used in the home; to provide, by means of this attachment, additional, rounded, :fuller, and more rigid shoulder support, so that the usual distortion and wrinkling of clothes, resulting from the use of wire clothes hangers, is eliminated, and instead, a normal, full shoulder form is achieved; to give rigidity to the horizontal portion of wire hangers normally supporting trousers, skirts, etc., thereby to prevent slipping, wrinkling, crimping, etc., and obviating the necessity of constant pressing before garments can be worn again; to provide an attachment for a wire type clothes hanger which, by providing graceful, rounded support to shoulder and bar areas, enhances the appearance of the garments, to make them more appealing to the eye at the site of sale in retail establishments such as department stores, clothing stores, etc.; to provide a non-slip hanger for sleeveless dresses, slips, gowns, etc.; and to provide an attachment, of the character mentioned, which may be used in combination with hangers of different sizes, and which may quickly be attached and detached.

The drawings illustrate the invention, and in these:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation showing the combination of the attachment with a wire clothes hanger;

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken on the horizontal line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken on vertical line 3-3 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevation showing how the wire hanger is connected to, and disconnected from, the attachment.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description, the numerals 1 and 2 designate respectively a common type of wire clothes hanger, of triangular form, and an attachment therefor. The hanger is a common type, made from a single piece of resilient wire, to form a hook 7 and a triangular body comprising sloping shoulder portions 11 and 12 and a horizontal portion or cross wire 13. The attachment 2 is considerably wider than the diameter of the wire of the hanger and is, cross sectionally, in the form of an inverted channel, and is substantially rigid to vertical pressure; for the latter purpose it is reenforced by internal crOss pieces 3, 4 and which are joined to the flanges of the channel form.

The attachment comprises a straight intermediate portion and end portions 14 and 15. The latter rise from the intermediate portion 10 and are in alignment therewith, and extend respectively to left and right thereof to form shoulder portions. The length of the intermediate portion 10 is less than the length of the horizontal portion 13 of the hanger, but the length of the attachment is greater, the end portions 14 and 15 extending beyond the ends of the hanger. The attachment has a single elongate opening or slot 16, which runs through the middle of the intermediate portion 10 and extends part way into the shoulder portions 14 and 15. The length of the slot 16,

2 measured straight, is less than the length of the hanger, as distinguished from the distance between the extreme ends of the slots shown in the patent mentioned above. In said patent, there is a groove in the intermediate portion of the attachment, in which the horizontal portion of the hanger rests, with slots or openings in the end portions only of the attachment, to receive the end or angular portions of the hanger, whereas, in the present structure, the single opening or slot receives both the intermediate portion 13 and the end portions of the hanger. In the present attachment, the horizontal part 13 of the hanger lies in the slot, and rests on the reenforcing cross pieces 3, 4 and 5 of the attachment, the latter pieces therefore having a double function, and their upper edges being low enough so that the part 13 of the hanger does not rise above the horizontal part 10' of the attachment.

In combining the hanger and the attachment, as shown in FIG. 4, one end portion of the hanger is pushed into an end portion of slot 16, so it extends to the left end of the attachment, the shoulder portion 11 being pressed against shoulder 14 with the horizontal part 13 of the hanger riding on reenforcing cross piece 5, whereby the right end portion of the hanger is inside the shoulder 15, and may therefore be brought down so that it may be placed in the right end portion of the slot, with the horizontal part 13 of the hanger within its part of the slot, as stated above, whereupon the hanger and the attachment are securely combined, the concerned dimensions being such that there is a mutual pressure between the shoulder portions of the hanger and the end portions of the attachment. It will be seen from FIG. 1 that the end or shoulder portions 14 and 15 of the attachment rise slightly above the shoulder portions 11 and 12 of the hanger. The purpose of such feature is to prevent certain types of garments, as womens sleeveless garments, for example, from falling off the hanger.

What is claimed is:

The combination with a resilient wire clothes hanger having a body portion of triangular form and comprising a pair of oppositely sloping shoulder portions and a horizontal portion joining ends of the shoulder portions, of an attachment for the hanger, said attachment having an inverted U or channel form and comprising a straight intermediate portion and end portions extending thereabove and beyond the ends of the same, said attachment having an opening entirely the length of said intermediate portion and extending into said end portions and terminating therein, at least one internal reenforcing cross piece between the depending sides of the intermediate portion of the attachment and below the opening therein, said horizontal portion of the hanger lying in the opening of the intermediate portion of the attachment and supported by said cros piece, the length of said opening in the attachment being less than the length of the horizontal portion of the hanger, the shoulder portions of the latter being at the ends of said opening and adjoining the end portions of the attachment, whereby there is a mutual pressure between said end portions of the attachment and the corresponding shoulder portions of the hanger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,721,679 Mason Oct. 25, 1955 2,813,668 Griflis Nov. 19, 1957 2,910,215 Auten Oct. 27, 1959 2,931,548 Volk Apr. 15, 1960 2,960,262 Cavender Nov. 15, 1960 

